Southeast Europe

nevertheless with no explanation given. In addition, teachers assigned to Hungarian
classes were often not proficient in the language, and most special subjects were taught
in Romanian (IHF, 1989:35).
In the 1970s the new economic programme for rapid industrialisation needed more
technical studies than humanities. So, the ratio was established at two-thirds technical to
one-third humanities, making it even more difficult for minorities to acquire an
education in their native language. In 1974, only 1.4% of instruction in technical
schools was delivered in Hungarian, and technical books were rarely translated into
minority languages. Thus, technical education became possible only for those who
mastered Romanian. Also, the fact that the university entrance exams were given only
in Romanian increased the pressure on parents to enrol their children in Romanianlanguage
schools (Romania. Language, Education, and Cultural Heritage, 2000).
Changes in the Number of Pupils Who Learned in Hungarian between 1948 and 1989
(Absolute Figures) (DAHR’s web page)
* the percentage of Hungarian pupils in the entire school population
Levels of education 1948/49 %* 1964/65 %* 1989/90 %* 1999/00 a
%*
Kindergarten 27,101 17.1 35,902 10 45,350 5.3 40,207 6.5
Elementary school 166,475 9.3 196,415 6.5 161,779 5.3 119,157 4.7
Secondary school 12,969 18.6 14,749 4.3 31,637 2.5 26,430 3.8
Source: The Ethos of Education for National Minorities in Romania 1999/2000 School
Year, 2000
6.2 Availability of teaching material for the minority
According to a 1997 report by the Council for National Minorities of the Government of
Romania, school programmes and textbooks for schools and sections were replaced by
1995, including Hungarian schools. This was achieved with the financial support of the
World Bank. Textbooks are provided free of charge in state schools. Separate books for
teaching Romanian-language to Grades I-IV (ages 7-11) are specially drawn up for
Hungarian schools (Council for National Minorities, 1994:22). István F. Nagy also
points out that approximately 2-years’ time is needed for the textbooks to reach pupils
learning in the minority languages. Moreover, technical reasons such as translation,
smaller number of printed books, the absence of specialists of national minorities in the
decision-making forums for the elaboration of the textbooks need to be mentioned as
factors hindering the accessibility of teaching material for the minoritty (Nagy, 2000).
6.3 Official position
At face value, the government’s position concerning education for minorities is liberal
and comprehensive. The Constitution adopted in 1991, and the law on education
introduced in 1995 address all the issues of concern to the minorities. As discussed in
section 5.2, however, the legislation is flawed and has been criticised by members of the
minority groups, especially by Hungarians. DAHR’s request concerning education,
formulated in October, 1977, at Târgu Mureş by the 5 th Congress of DAHR:
1. passing by the Parliament of the Government Edict for the amendment of the
Education Law (July 30, 1999);
2. banning of measures restricting native language education;
3. creating (within the framework of public education) a Hungarian language
educational system including all the necessary profiles;
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